New double conveyor belt installation and adaptation of old systems by Borer Lift AG
With its twelve ski resorts in Switzerland and France, Portes du Soleil is not only the first cross-border ski resort in the world, but also one of the largest in the Alps with over 600 kilometers of slopes. For the 2024/2025 winter season, Borer Lift AG realized two Moving Carpet projects, comprising a total of three Sunkid conveyor belts.
In Morgins, directly at the mountain station on the Foilleuse, an almost 95-metre-long covered duplex installation with two modern Moving Carpets was built. In the Champéry area, an existing installation with wooden side cladding was dismantled, extended and rebuilt in a new location.
Axel Halder, Managing Director of Borer Lift AG, which is responsible for sales and service of Sunkid products in Switzerland, on the project in Morgins: "A Sunkid Moving Carpet had already been in operation here for several years. Our customer was very satisfied with the system and our service, so he approached us in March 2024 with the plan to replace it with two new conveyor belts. In May, we finally agreed on the installation of a duplex system - with two individually controllable type N Moving Carpets under a gallery roof." The installation with the help of Borer Supervision was carried out within a very short time by a team from the mountain cableways led by Florent Clerc (Technical Manager Infrastructure) - with final acceptance in November.
Like the surrounding flat and wide slope profile, the new Sunkid conveyor belts in Morgins are primarily tailored to beginners and children. In addition to short distances and easy, comfortable transportation, the entire facility also boasts an impressive panorama of the surrounding peaks - above all the famous Dents du Midi massif. The exposed, sunny orientation ensures that the Moving Carpets can be used comfortably throughout the day.
Guests on both conveyor belts are protected from the wind and weather along their entire length by a shared gallery roof. Electric roller shutters have been installed at the ends of the system. These not only provide excellent protection for all components, but also allow fences, signs, shovels etc. to be stored inside the gallery after the lift closes. This ensures a quick start to operations the next morning.
The latest generation "Type N" Moving Carpets are controlled via the innovative i-Control system. The system is operated via external control terminals - housed in the control room of the "TC Morgins" gondola lift - including full video and audio monitoring as well as remote access for the customer and the Borer service team.
The customer achieves full flexibility and efficiency by being able to operate both conveyor belts independently of each other. At peak times, both can run in parallel, while in quieter phases only one Moving Carpet is activated. This concept not only enables optimum capacity utilization, but also ensures maximum operational reliability: even in the event of a technical malfunction, at least one conveyor belt remains available.
"The second project completed in Portes du Soleil in 2024 (in the Champéry area) was anything but a standard installation with dismantling, repositioning and extension," says Axel Halder. "It shows the variety and flexible adaptability of the Sunkid Moving Carpets and galleries, including Borer's technical know-how. The extended gallery with coverable entrances and exits enables side entry and exit to the conveyor system. The automatic start/stop when not in use increases energy efficiency. The half-height timber cladding on the sides offers solid protection and gives the gallery a rustic, alpine and sustainable look."
